Culinary inspiration from chefs with Down Syndrome

by Beatrice Credi from West:
ChefDown is the first web channel that broadcasts cooking programmes presented by chefs with Down’s Syndrome preparing tasty dishes from around the world. Launched in Spain as a collaboration between Eroski and Down España, the web channel has an accessible video menu in which people with intellectual disabilities give step-by-step guides to making various recipes. Armed with aprons, scales and all the tools of the culinary trade, the presenters give tips on how to eat healthily and get a balanced diet – all done in a simple and entertaining style. The initiative has a dual objective: on the one hand it aims to encourage independence and to involve young people to take part in a group activity, seeing as they can then present their own recipes, broadcast them and share them with the ChefDown community. On the other hand, it also seeks to improve the eating habits of people with Down’s Syndrome, a demographic with high rates of obesity and celiac disease. ChefDown even allows users to plan their own weekly menu.

Spanish Angela Bachiller first councilwoman with Down syndrome

by Paloma Corredor from VOXXI:

Angela Bachiller has become the first councilwoman with Down syndrome, after taking possession of her office in Valladolid city council, Spain.

A real example of self-improvement and empowerment that has conquered the heart of the whole country during these tough days when corruption and recession have made the majority of citizens lose faith in their politicians.

Bachiller, 30, had been working in the area of Social Welfare and Family as an administrative assistant for three years.

Now, this young woman who defines herself in an interview in the Spanish newspaper Publico as “friendly, positive, tenacious and stubborn,” is willing to work to give visibility and opportunities to other people with special needs.

Hotel bans 'annoying' kids with Down syndrome

by Steve Tallantyre from The Local (Spain's News in English):
Spain's leading Down syndrome association has slammed a hotel for turning away a group of children with the condition 'in case they annoyed' other guests.
A reservation for a group of children with Down syndrome, who were to celebrate an end-of-term trip, was refused by an Almeria hotel hotel on the grounds that "these kinds of people might annoy other guests".
Management of the Hotel CaboGata Plaza Suites, of the ZT Hotels group, have apologized for the gaffe but the case has now been passed to Almeria's public prosecutor according to Spanish daily El País.
A worker from Down España asked a travel agent to get prices from three nearby hotels in order to organize an end-of-term trip for the children, who attend a school run by the association.
One of them, CaboGata Plaza Suites,  responded by saying, "We do not admit groups of guests with mental disabilities," because, "this has happened before."
The association reported the incident to the public prosecutor because it felt that there was "a clear case of discrimination against disabled people that breaks the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, ratified by Spain."
The convention prohibits "all discrimination on the grounds of disability".
This is not the first case of its type in Spain, according to Down España.
A nightclub in Sabadell and a pub in Alicante have both been prosecuted in recent years for refusing access to people with Down syndrome.
In 2009 a parish priest refused to give First Communion to a girl in Barcelona, saying that she was already "one of God's angels".
"We haven't gone public with this incident to victimize anyone but to educate the public," said Agustín Matía, head of Down España.
Sources from the hotel have apologized to the association, saying that the incident had been "a misunderstanding" and claiming that hotel staff had believed they were dealing with a group of former hotel guests with a different mental disability whose visit had been "very confrontational".
Hotel management claim that staff have been "deeply affected" by the incident which has led to a wave of criticism on social media networks.
They added: "In 35 years of business we have never refused access to guests with Down syndrome," who they said, "have been, are, and always will be very welcome."
Down España advised that families encountering any type of discrimination should demand a complaint form to record the details before contacting the public prosecutor.

Steve Tallantyre (news@thelocal.es)

Echevarne to distribute Natera's non-invasive prenatal screening test in Spain

from News-Medical.net:
Natera, a leading innovator in prenatal genetic testing, and Echevarne, a leading clinical analysis laboratory in Spain, today announced the signing of a distribution agreement for Echevarne to offer Natera's non-invasive prenatal screening test (NIPT), Panorama™, through its facilities in Spain. Panorama was launched in March 2013 for the detection of trisomy 21 (Down syndrome), trisomy 18 (Edwards syndrome), trisomy 13 (Patau syndrome) and select sex chromosome abnormalities, such as monosomy X (Turner's syndrome).

Panorama uses a simple blood draw from the mother, examines cell-free DNA found in maternal blood originating from both mother and fetus, and can be performed within the first trimester of pregnancy, as early as nine weeks, without any risk to the fetus. Panorama's technology analyzes, in a single reaction, 19,500 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), which are the most informative portions of an individual's DNA. It utilizes the NATUS [Next-generation Aneuploidy Testing Using SNPs] algorithm, an advanced version of Natera's proprietary informatics.